APPLICANT RESOURCES

Have an iPhone or iPod Touch? Research schools on the go and keep your applications organized with Clear Admit's new MBA Planner App! Now available in a free 'Lite' version too!

Admissions Director Q&A
Below are links to Clear Admit's exclusive interviews with MBA admissions directors at leading programs.
Dawna Clarke (Tuck)
Rose Martinelli (Chicago)
Judith Hodara (Wharton)
Sara Neher (Darden)
Soojin Kwon Koh (Michigan)
Randall Sawyer (Cornell)
Beth Flye (Kellogg)
David Simpson (LBS)
Liz Riley Hargrove (Duke)
Linda Meehan (Columbia)
Bruce DelMonico (Yale)
Peter Johnson (Berkeley)
Isser Gallogly (NYU)
Mae Jennifer Shores (UCLA)
J.J. Cutler (Wharton)
Jake Cohen (INSEAD)
Rod Garcia (MIT Sloan)
Mary Miller (Columbia)

Clear Admit School Guides
Clear Admit School GuidesBecome an expert on your target schools overnight! Get the program-specific details you need to craft essays that stand out. See how schools compare head-to-head in key areas like recruiting, curricular structure, elective offerings and more. Available for immediate download. As featured in the Economist.

Clear Admit Career Guides
Clear Admit Career GuidesUnderstand career-specific offerings at leading MBA programs and identify the schools that will best support your career goals with the Clear Admit Career Guides! Available for Consulting, Investment Banking, Entrepreneurship, Marketing and Healthcare.

Clear Admit Strategy Series
Clear Admit Strategy SeriesCraft a winning application with the Clear Admit Strategy Series! Step-by-Step guidance through the application process. Titles include a Resume Guide, Recommendations Guide, Waitlist Guide and more!

Clear Admit Interview Guides
Clear Admit Interview GuidesBe as prepared as possible for your MBA interviews this season with the Clear Admit Interview Guides! School-specific sample questions and in-depth strategy, campus visit details and places to stay.

Application Deadlines
Below are the upcoming deadlines for admission to top-tier schools.
Jul 28: INSEAD Jan. Intake R3
Sep 29: INSEAD R2
Sep 30: Duke / Fuqua EA
Oct 1: HBS R1
Oct 4: Cambridge / Judge R1
Oct 4: UPenn / Wharton R1
Oct 6: CBS EA
Oct 6: Stanford GSB R1
Oct 7: Yale SOM R1
Oct 8: Oxford / Saїd R1
Oct 11: Michigan / Ross R1
Oct 13: Berkeley / Haas R1
Oct 13: Chicago / Booth R1
Oct 13: Dartmouth / Tuck EA
Oct 14: Northwestern / Kellogg R1
Oct 20: UCLA / Anderson R1
Oct 22: UNC / Kenan-Flagler EA
Oct 26: MIT / Sloan R1

Essay Topic Analysis
Below are links to our comments on some of the top programs' essay topics.
The Career Goals Essay*
Berkeley / Haas
Chicago Booth*
CMU / Tepper
Columbia*
Cornell / Johnson
Dartmouth / Tuck*
Duke / Fuqua*
Harvard*
Indian School of Business
INSEAD
London Business School*
MIT / Sloan*
Michigan / Ross*
Northwestern / Kellogg*
NYU / Stern
Oxford / Said
Penn / Wharton*
Stanford GSB*
UCLA / Anderson*
UNC / Kenan-Flagler*
USC / Marshall
UT Austin / McCombs
UVA / Darden*
Yale SOM*
* denotes '10-'11 commentary

Categories
Use categories to access all that has been written on each of the topics. We have categorized by school and by subject matter.

Interview Reports
A selection of interview field reports from fellow applicants posted to the MBA Admissions Wiki. Add your reports when you are finished with your interviews.
Chicago
Columbia
Dartmouth / Tuck
Duke / Fuqua
Harvard
Kellogg
Michigan / Ross
MIT / Sloan
Stanford
UNC / Chapel Hill
Virginia / Darden
Wharton
London Business School

GMAT Resources
MBA.com
Manhattan GMAT
GMAT Club
Princeton Review
Test Prep New York
Kaplan
Beat The GMAT
Knewton
GMAT Pill

Writing Resources
Guide to Grammar and Writing
The Internet Grammar of English
English Usage, Style and Composition
The Economist Style Guide
Paradigm Online Writing Assistant

School Rankings
Rankings are a good way to start your research on various MBA Programs. Keep in mind each uses a different methodology.
Business Week
Economist
Financial Times
Forbes
USNews
Wall Street Journal

Career Guides
The following resources should be useful to those who want to research the careers open to them after (or before) earning an MBA.
Vault.com
Wetfeet

Business School Resources
The following are business resources offered by a variety of leading Business Schools. It's useful to subscribe to these resources, especially for the schools to which you are applying.

MBA Programs: North America
If an MBA Program is not listed, please e-mail and we will be happy to list it.
Berkeley / Haas
Boston College / Carroll
Carnegie Mellon / Tepper
Chicago
Columbia
Concordia
Cornell / Johnson
Dartmouth / Tuck
Duke / Fuqua
Emory / Goizueta
Harvard
HEC Montreal
Indiana / Kelley
Michigan
MIT / Sloan
Northwestern / Kellogg
New York / Stern
North Carolina / Kenan Flagler
Notre Dame / Mendoza
Pennsylvania / Wharton
Queens
Stanford
Syracuse / Whitman
Texas / McCombs
Thunderbird
Toronto
USC / Marshall
UCLA / Anderson
Vanderbilt / Owen
Virginia / Darden
Washington University in St. Louis / Olin
Western Ontario / Ivey
Yale

MBA Programs: Rest of the World
As there is some variety in the length of international MBA programs, we have denoted the length of the program next to its name (1 = one year; 2 = 2 years). If an MBA Program is not listed, please e-mail and we will be happy to list it.
AGSM (Australia) 2
Cambridge / Judge (UK) 1
CIEBS (China) 2
Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (China) 1
Cranfield School of Mgmt (UK) 1
ESADE (Spain) 1 or 2
HEC (France) 2
Hult (UK) 1
IESE (Spain) 2
IMD (Switzerland) 1
INCAE (Costa Rica) 2
INSEAD (France) 1
IPADE (Mexico)
ISB (India) 1
London Business School (UK) 2
Manchester Bus. School (UK) 2
Melbourne (Australia) 2
Oxford / Said (UK) 1
Rotterdam (Netherlands) 1
Tsinghua IMBA (China) 2
University of St. Gallen (Switzerland) 1

Additional Resources
Here we link a host of additional resources available across the web. E-mail info@clearadmit.com to have resources added to this list.
AACSB International
Association of MBAs
Beyond Grey Pinstripes
EFMD
gradschools.com (worldwide)
Infozee
International Student Loans
mba.com (GMAT Scores)
MBAInfo
mbaleague.blogspot.com
MBAzone
MBA Jungle
TOEFL
Top MBA


MBA Tipline
We encourage admissions officers, students and applicants to alert us of interesting news and developments, please send an email to news@clearadmit.com so we can blog it.

Blog Archive

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Friday, July 30, 2010

Yale School of Management Hosts Pre-MBA Leadership Program for College Students

Last month, Yale School of Management (SOM) hosted its second Pre-MBA Leadership Program, a two-week program for college juniors and seniors and recent graduates from under-represented minority populations. Designed to help students network and develop leadership skills, the program also introduces prospective applicants to SOM’s full-time MBA curriculum.

During the program, students take condensed versions of several of SOM’s core courses, including operations, microeconomics and accounting. These provide students with an opportunity to apply the principles of these different disciplines on a small scale through hands-on activities. For example, in an operations management class led by Professor Arthur Swersey, students design an assembly line to put together toy sailboats. 

In addition to taking classes, participating students also work in groups on the Audubon Street Project, an exercise drawn from the SOM MBA orientation program. As part of Audubon, students must develop a hypothetical business for a storefront near the SOM campus, ideas for which they will present to a panel of SOM faculty, complete with budget and marketing materials. The proposed business must be economically viable and must support Yale SOM’s mission of educating leaders for business and society.

Promising college students from under-represented minority populations are encouraged to apply to the Pre-MBA Leadership Program. An application for the Summer 2011 session will be available this fall. Admission is highly selective and includes the cost of tuition, room, board and course materials. For more information, click here.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 1:00 pm in School: Yale

Fridays From the Frontline

Hello and welcome to another installment of Fridays From the Frontline. Clear Admit has been vigilant in its perusal of the MBA blogosphere this week and can see that the dwindling summer days have lit a fire under aspirants and current students alike. Though August remains high on the horizon, many bloggers’ attentions were focused on different matters this week.

Ellipser studied for the GMAT and drafted his Tuck essays while sitting on an upper west side pier. MBAYogi read an interesting article about the movie Inception in the New Yorker. Miles to MBA attended an information session for ISB and planned to apply to the school in round 2. A. enjoyed his vacation but went back to work on his applications, promising himself he wouldn’t work on his essays while at work.

Olin ’12 Beautiful Mind took off and winged his way to St. Louis. IMD ’11 Howie and his wife hoped to sell their condo before departing for Europe, but knew it could be difficult. INSEAD ’11 The Journeyer addressed the relative frequency of divorce at the school. Babson ’12 Rocky encouraged his readers to check out the new student profiles on Babson’s website.

Kellogg ’11 Orlando continued his internship, took part in his mid-summer review, identified areas he’d like to improve upon and went golfing. Boston ’11 Felish shared one of her favorite rainy day mac n’ cheese recipes. Kellogg ’11 Shobhit went to a team learning session at McKinsey and picked up a few insights. Harvard ’11 Military to Business divided private sector careers into three categories and asked his readers what they would do. McDonough ’11  Part-Timer felt pleasantly surprised by certain grades he received and looked forward to a vacation in Barbados. Darden ’11 Julie saw new faces arriving in Charlottesville and looked back on where she was in her b-school life a year ago. Kellogg ’12 Jeremy provided a few pointers on how to approach one’s short- and long-term goals.

And that concludes this week’s wonderful wander through the b-school blogosphere. We hope current students continue to enjoy their summer jobs while incoming students enjoy their last weeks of ‘freedom.’ Until next week, have a great weekend!

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 3:00 am in Fridays from the Frontline

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Carnegie Mellon / Tepper Deadlines 2010-2011

The Carnegie Mellon / Tepper deadlines for the 2010-2011 admissions season have just been released. The five deadlines are below:

Round 1
Deadline: October 25, 2010
Notification: December 20, 2010

Round 2
Deadline: January 3, 2011
Notification: March 14, 2011

Round 3
Deadline: March 7, 2011
Notification: April 29, 2011

Round 4
Deadline: April 25, 2011
Notification: May 27, 2011

Round 5
Deadline: June 1, 2011
Notification: Rolling

Applicants should note that the Round 4 deadline is reserved for U.S. citizens and permanent residents; international applicants must apply by the Round 3 deadline. The Round 5 deadline is exclusively for FlexTime and FlexMode candidates.

For more information, be sure to visit the school’s website.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 4:12 pm in Deadlines, School: CMU / Tepper

University of Chicago Booth School of Business Launches New “Booth Insider” Admissions Blog

The admissions staff at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business yesterday announced the launch of the “Booth Insider,” a new admissions blog where prospective applicants can get all the latest news about the school and its admissions process.

The new blog replaces outgoing Dean of Admissions Rose Martinelli’s “Rose Report.” Martinelli announced earlier this week that she will be leaving her post as admissions director to assume a new role as assistant vice president of enrollment management for the University of Chicago. Kurt Ahlm, a senior member of the admissions team under Martinelli, will serve as Chicago Booth’s new dean of admissions.

In an introductory post to the Booth Insider, Ahlm pledged to continue Martinelli’s commitment to providing transparency in the admissions process. He also added that the new blog will not have just one voice, but rather eight different contributors from the admissions team. “With these different voices, you’ll be able to obtain multiple perspectives on issues affecting prospective students,” he wrote. He also invited input from readers about topics they would like to see covered. “If there is a topic we haven’t addressed, let us know!” he wrote. “We want t make sure we’re covering topics of interest to you.”

In a subsequent post yesterday, the Booth Insider shared news that will surely be of interest to all prospective applicants, namely the appointment of the school’s next dean. In case you missed Clear Admit’s post on the topic yesterday, Stanford Graduate School of Business Senior Associate Dean Sunil Kumar has been appointed to serve as the next dean of Chicago Booth, replacing outgoing dean Ted Snyder. Kumar, an expert in operations research, will assume his new role on January 1, 2011.

In the meantime, Professor Harry Davis will serve as interim dean of the school. Davis, a longtime member of the Booth community, helped create the Leadership Effectiveness and Development (LEAD) Program at Chicago Booth, a unique program designed to help first-year students develop and practice key communication skills.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 1:00 pm in MBA News, School: Chicago

Dartmouth / Tuck Essay Topic Analysis 2010-2011

Tuck’s essay topics for the coming admissions season maintain the same themes from previous years, suggesting an enduring focus on teamwork, leadership and applicants’ unique characteristics.   While essays 1 and 4 remain the same, essay 2 on leadership has undergone slight revision, and last year’s essay 3 on constructive criticism has been replaced with one on overcoming a challenging experience.

Like last year, the admissions committee does not specify a word or page limit for its essays.  They have hinted, though, that most candidates find 500 words sufficient for each of their responses, so straying far from that number might not be advisable.  They also state that all essays should be double-spaced.

Essay 1: Why is an MBA a critical next step toward your short- and long-term career goals? Why is Tuck the best MBA program for you? (If you are applying for a joint or dual degree, please explain how the additional degree will contribute to those goals.)
This is a rather straightforward career goals essay. The one way that it differs from those of most other schools is that rather than simply inquiring about the basis of an applicant’s interest in the program, Tuck wants to hear the reasons it might be the best of the candidate’s options. Navigating this issue will require a fair amount of research, as it will be important to identify some features that are truly unique to Tuck and very relevant to one’s goals, background and/or interests. This prompt also makes it essential that applicants define their career goals as specifically as possible in order to clearly demonstrate the logical connection between their own interests and goals and the main objectives of Tuck’s program.

As is the case with most schools, demonstrating an understanding of the unique merits of Tuck’s program is crucial to an effective response to this question.  Taking the time to learn about the school’s curriculum, special programs and extracurricular activities – whether through a visit to campus, conversation with alumni or reading the Clear Admit School Guide to Tuck – will pay dividends here.

Essay 2: Discuss your most meaningful leadership experience. What did you learn about your own individual strengths and weaknesses through this experience?
In responding to this question, applicants will need to maintain a balance between the individual and external.  In order to respond to the first part of the prompt, applicants will need to clearly outline the experience, explaining how they led by inspiring others as well as how their efforts affected others and the organization’s bottom line.  In responding to the second part of the prompt, these descriptions will need to be balanced with more reflective observations about the applicant’s own thought process and, in the end, personal development.  While it’s necessary that you discuss your weaknesses as well as your strengths, we encourage all applicants to maintain a positive tone.  One way applicants may do this is by explaining how they have worked to improve their weakness areas since the experience.  The heart of this essay is to show Tuck that you have the ability to lead others, as well as insight into your own leadership abilities and the motivation to improve these skills.

Essay 3: What is the greatest challenge or hurdle you have overcome, either personally or professionally, and how did you manage to do so?
Whether the story is from your professional or academic life, the major themes of growth and learning remain the same. After describing the initial challenge in detail, applicants should comment on both their thoughts and actions in response. It’s very important to present both one’s internal and external reactions in creating a full picture for the adcom.

This essay is a good place to highlight instances of resourcefulness and persistence, and provide a comprehensive picture of personal and professional development over the course of the narrative.  Applicants should keep in mind that the adcom will be using their account of their past thoughts and experiences as a barometer to measure their current attitudes and future approaches.  For that reason, it’s important that you avoid using too recent of an example, as this might make it difficult for you to prove that you have learned from the challenge and have put your learnings to use.

Essay 4: Tuck seeks candidates of various backgrounds who can bring new perspectives to our community. How will your unique personal history, values, and/or life experiences contribute to the culture at Tuck?
In asking this question, Tuck is trying to understand the potential value of applicants’ knowledge and interests, and also the way they think about the world. Rather than making the common claim that they can bring a unique perspective to the classroom, candidates are encouraged to offer insightful details about what differentiates them from others in the applicant pool. Discussing the way your individual perspectives would affect this close-knit community (in a modest manner, of course) can really bolster your response here, since the adcom is sincerely looking for applicants who will change the program for the better. For that reason, applicants who outline the specific contributions they could make to the Tuck culture, the ways in which they intend to make them, and the reasons they are uniquely equipped to do so, will make a positive and lasting impression on the adcom. Again, this essay will require that applicants have done their “homework,” so to speak, and have researched the various clubs, courses and campus-wide involvements dedicated to promoting the diversity and varying interests present at Tuck. Specifically indicating which of these involvements interest the applicant will go a long way in proving to the adcom one’s ability to make a positive impact on the school community.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 3:00 am in Essay Topic Analysis, School: Dartmouth / Tuck

Twitter Thursdays: News from MBA Programs

Welcome to the latest edition of Twitter Thursdays, our weekly recap of the announcements and news reported on Twitter by representatives from leading MBA programs. For additional MBA-related announcements and updates, make sure to follow Clear Admit on Twitter. Not only will you stay informed of breaking business school news, but you’ll also have the chance to enter trivia contests and win prizes. As an added bonus, you can view the list of MBA programs we follow – there you’ll find various updates tweeted by MBA programs, deans and admissions directors.

There’s been quite a bit of Twitter traffic during the past week. In breaking news, the Booth Insider revealed that Sunil Kumar has been named the new Dean at Chicago Booth. Stanford GSB provided a number of updates regarding international information sessions. The Dean of the Darden School, Bob Bruner, directed readers to Washington Post video compiled by Darden Media, as well as to a number of admissions blog post. MIT / Sloan highlighted an impressive accomplishment – OpenCourseWare has reached the 2,000 course milestone. The Wharton School noted that it was recently cited by SmartPlanet as one of six schools in the nation with a notable focus on sustainability.

Over at Berkeley, the Dean of the Haas School of Business, Rich Lyons, announced the launch of a new website that provides visitors with a space for sharing culture-relevant stories about the program. The Johnson School highlighted an opportunity for individuals interested in learning more about sustainable enterprise in the developing world. Meanwhile, Yale SOM students offered their thoughts on the program’s academic and community opportunities.  Jim Dean, the Dean of UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, was on vacation during the past week – but Kenan-Flagler remained constantly on his mind. Finally, Assistant Dean of UCLA Anderson MBA Admissions & Financial Aid Mae Jennifer Shores offered advice to high school students who foresee an MBA in the future.

This concludes today’s Twitter Thursdays – thanks for tuning in. If you’re on Twitter please let us know! Simply email wiki@clearadmit.com with your username and status as an MBA applicant, student or admissions officer, and we will add you to the appropriate Twitter list. Happy tweeting and make sure to stop by next week!

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 2:30 am in Twitter Thursdays

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

GMAT Tip: Eight Hundred Ninety-Nine

Today’s GMAT challenge question comes from our friends at ManhattanGMAT.  To help you with your GMAT studying, try to solve the problem on your own, and then read on for the explanation of its solution:

Problem

The smallest prime factor of 899 is x. Which of the following is true of x?

(A) 1 < x ≤ 7

(B) 7 < x ≤ 14

(C) 14 < x ≤ 21

(D) 21 < x ≤ 28

(E) 28 < x ≤ 35

Solution

One path to the solution involves brute force. We can test primes in order of size, applying divisibility rules that we know for small numbers, such as 3. However, all the simple rules fail. This method may wind up being the quickest way, but it is laborious.

The shortcut in this problem involves wishful thinking. 899 is awfully close to a nice number: 900. The reason 900 is so nice is that it is a square: 302 = 900. (By the way, since we know from the wording of the problem that 899 has a prime factor less than itself, at least one of the prime factors must be below the square root of 899, and at least one prime factor must be larger than the square root of 899. This square root is just under 30. This is another reason why we might think of the nearby perfect square, 900.)

So we can write 899 = 900 – 1 = 302 – 1.

Now, ideally we would notice that we can take one step further and rewrite 302 – 1 as 302 – 12, since 1 = 12. Why would we do this? Because now we have written 899 as a difference of squares, which we should know how to factor:

899 = 900 – 1 = 302 – 1 = 302 – 12 = (30 + 1)(30 – 1) = 31 × 29.

Both 31 and 29 are prime numbers. The smallest prime factor of 899, therefore, is 29.

The correct answer is E.

For more information on ManhattanGMAT, download Clear Admit’s independent guide to the leading test preparation companies here. This FREE guide includes coupons for discounts on test prep services at ten different firms!

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 8:00 pm in GMAT - Quantitative, GMAT Tips

Chicago Booth Names Sunil Kumar as New Dean

Chicago Booth announced today that Sunil Kumar, Fred H. Merrill Professor of Operations, Information and Technology and an expert in operations research at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, will serve as the new dean of the program. Kumar will take the place of Edward A. Snyder, who served as dean of the program for nine years. Snyder stepped down from his post on June 30, 2010.

Kumar, who was born in India, received his Master of Engineering degree in computer science and automation from the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore. He also possesses a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Mangalore University in Surathkal. After receiving his PhD in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1996, Kumar joined Stanford, where he has served as a faculty member ever since.

Kumar expressed a great deal of enthusiasm for his new post, stating, “I am excited to become dean of Chicago Booth. I share the school’s passion for the pursuit of ideas that hold up under careful scrutiny. I look forward to helping strengthen and enhance Booth’s outstanding research environment and its rigorous, discipline-based approach to business education. I am eager to get to know the faculty, students, alumni, and staff of the school, and to engage with the business community in the city of Chicago.”

For more information on Kumar’s background and his objectives as dean of Chicago Booth, make sure to check out Booth’s press release announcing his appointment.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 4:17 pm in Events, School: Chicago

Generous Gift Will Create New Chaired Marketing Professorship at Kellogg School of Management

A generous family gift to the Kellogg School of Management will create a new chaired professorship in marketing, the school announced earlier this week.

The donation will establish the Bernice and Leonard H. Lavin Professorship, founded through a generous gift from the Lavin family, co-founders of the Alberto Culver Company, which they built into a $1.5 billion enterprise. Kent Grayson, a member of the Kellogg marketing department since 2002, will hold the newly created chair position, the school’s first since 2007.

Grayson, who teaches Kellogg’s core marketing course and researches the role of fact and fabrication in the marketplace, was deeply honored by the appointment. “It’s not only an amazing honor to be asked to hold a chair on the Kellogg faculty, but it’s an immense pleasure to be asked to hold a chair named for someone who literally and truly invented many of the things I talk about in the classroom,” he said in a statement. “Mr. Lavin was one of the first people to launch and run a national sales company, and his products often represented innovations in marketing.”

Bernice Lavin, for her part, helped advance the organization’s missions in healthcare, women and family services. And Bernice and Leonard’s daughter, Carol Lavin Bernick, has long supported the Kellogg School, including serving as a member of the Dean’s Advisory Board.

“While the Lavin Chair is a family gift, both our family and the Alberto Culver Company believe in the teaching and the outstanding research of the Kellogg School,” she said. “We hope this gift can help further its legacy of producing world-class business leaders,” said added.

Last week, the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University also announced the creation of a new chaired professorship thanks to a generous gift to the school. The resurgence of such gifts is a welcome development at top business schools, perhaps signaling that philanthropic giving has entered a period of recovery following a considerable slowdown as the result of the global economic crisis.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 1:00 pm in MBA News, School: Northwestern / Kellogg

What Topic Challenges You?

What Type of Essay do You Consider The Most Difficult to Write?

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 3:00 am in Essay Topics, Poll

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

NYU / Stern Deadlines and Essay Topics 2010-2011

NYU / Stern has just released its deadlines and essay topics for the upcoming admissions season. The deadlines are as follows:

1st Deadline: November 15, 2010
Notification: February 15, 2010

2nd Deadline: January 15, 2011
Notification: April 1, 2011

3rd Deadline: March 15, 2011
Notification: June 1, 2011

The essays, unchanged from last year, are as follows:

Essay 1: Professional Aspirations
(750 word maximum, double-spaced, 12-point font)
Think about the decisions you have made in your life. Answer the following:

(a) What choices have you made that led you to your current position?
(b) Why pursue an MBA at this point in your life?
(c) What is your career goal upon graduation from NYU Stern? What is your long-term career goal?

Essay 2: Your Stern Experience
(500 word maximum, double-spaced, 12-point font)
We take great care to shape the Stern community with individuals who possess both intellectual and interpersonal strengths. We seek individuals who are highly intelligent, collaborative and committed to flourishing as Stern leaders. Please answer the following questions:

(a) What is your personal experience with the Stern community? Tell us what actions you have taken to learn about us.
(b) Describe what most excites you about Stern from both an academic and extracurricular perspective.
(c) How do you anticipate making your mark on the Stern community? Be specific about the roles you will take on and the impact you hope to achieve.

Essay 3: Personal Expression
Please describe yourself to your MBA classmates. You may use almost any method to convey your message (e.g. words, illustrations). Feel free to be creative.

If you will submit Essay 3 via mail or by providing an online link, please provide a brief description of your submission and its relevance to your MBA application.

Please note the following guidelines and restrictions:
Your submission becomes the property of NYU Stern and cannot be returned for any reason. If you submit a written essay, it should be 500 words maximum, double-spaced, 12-point font.
If you have a multimedia submission, you may:
(a) Mail a CD, DVD or USB flash drive.
(b) Include an online link in your submission description.
The Admissions Committee reserves the right to request an alternate Essay 3 if we are unable to view your submission. Do not submit anything perishable (e.g. food).

For more information, be sure to visit the school’s website.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 4:58 pm in Deadlines, Essay Topics, School: NYU Stern

Registration Now Open for Explore Wharton Diversity Weekend

The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania announced yesterday that registration is now open for Explore Wharton: Diversity in Action, a two-day event for prospective applicants from under represented backgrounds to visit campus and learn more about the admissions process.

The event, which will take place on September 16th and 17th, is hosted by the African American MBA Association (AAMBAA), the Wharton Hispanic American MBA Association (WHAMBAA), Wharton’s Out for Business (Out4Biz) and the MBA Admissions and Financial Aid Office.

Participating prospective applicants will have an opportunity to tour the Wharton campus, attend classes, ask questions about the admissions process and learn more about specific opportunities for LGBT and under-represented people of color within the Wharton MBA community.

Advance registration is required. To register, click here. For more information about the event, directions or places to stay, click here.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 1:00 pm in School: Penn / Wharton

Cambridge / Judge Essay Topics 2010-2011

After releasing its deadlines earlier this summer, Cambridge/Judge has now posted its essay topics for this year’s admissions season. They are as follows:

Essay 1
What are the key issues facing organizations in your sector over the next three years? What course of action would you recommend to such organizations? (300 words)

Essay 2
What did you learn from your most spectacular failure? (200 words)

Essay 3
What are your short and long term career objectives? What skills/characteristics do you already have that will help you to achieve them? What do you hope to gain from the degree and how do you feel it will help you achieve the career objectives you have? (please do not exceed 500 words)

For further information, be sure to visit the school’s website.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 11:46 am in Essay Topics, School: Cambridge

Trivia Tuesday: International Consulting at Haas

Welcome to another edition of Trivia Tuesday, our weekly examination of the programs, policies and resources that help to differentiate the leading business schools. This week we turn our attention to an opportunity for hands-on international development work offered by the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley.

The International Business Development (IBD) course is one of the most popular electives at Haas. Similar to the international consulting electives at Wharton and Tuck, the course sends small teams of students to consult at client sites around the world for three weeks each summer. The program is open only to first-year students, and the application process includes both essays and an interview.

Students selected for participation are assigned to project teams in January of the first year and work with their teams in the spring semester to conduct background research and analysis. Following the end of first-year classes in mid-May, each team spends a dedicated three weeks on-site with the client, completing such projects as preparing a business plan, conducting market analysis, developing marketing or entry strategies, or recommending operational changes. In keeping with the course’s focus on international development, the sponsor organizations are largely regional companies or non-profits, including the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Beahrs Environmental Leadership Program, Comaco, The Longevity Project and the Sewalanka Foundation.

Although the IBD project is usually delivered to the clients by the end of the three week period on-site, teams may need to conduct follow-up work in the fall semester. In order to provide students with an opportunity to share their findings with other teams and to discuss their experiences, IBD participants meet for two full Fridays during the fall semester. During these meetings, each team presents its project to the class in case format. Upon successful completion of the spring semester preparation, the in-country project, and the fall semester presentations, students receive three elective credits towards their Haas degrees.

To learn more about international study or experiential learning opportunities at Haas and other leading business schools, be sure to check out the Clear Admit School Guides!

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 3:00 am in School Guides, School: Berkeley / Haas, Trivia Tuesday

Monday, July 26, 2010

Columbia Business School to Introduce Unique Consumer Finance Course as Part of New Cross-Disciplinary Approach

Columbia Business School (CBS) this year will identify and develop new cross-disciplinary areas (CDAs) that combine research, collaboration and teaching disciplines from across multiple divisions within the school. This new initiative, designed to reflect the cross-functional operations students will confront in the real business world, will include a number of new courses co-taught by experts from several different fields.

One such course, “The Psychology and Economics of Consumer Finance,” is built around helping students understand how household decisions impact the macroeconomy and what drives consumer financial behavior. Co-taught by Professor Eric Johnson, an expert in consumer behavior, and Professor Stephen Zeldes, a finance and economics expert, the course will debut this fall. It is the first course at CBS to ever focus on consumer finance and one of few such courses offered by any of the top business schools, the school boasts.

According to the CBS communications office, this new interdisciplinary approach is expected to fast become the norm at the school. CDAs will augment CBS core courses, which focus on specific disciplines such as finance, marketing, accounting and organizational management.

Clear Admit will keep readers informed about new CDAs at CBS as they are developed throughout the 2010-11 academic year, so stay tuned.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 1:00 pm in MBA News, School: Columbia

MIT / Sloan Essay Topic Analysis 2010-2011

With the release of MIT Sloan’s 2010-2011 essay questions, we would like to take some time to offer some advice on how to best approach these questions and draft strong responses.  With only the second essay changed from last year’s set of application essays, this season’s batch reflects an emphasis on proactiveness, encouraging applicants to reflect upon how they have taken charge and led others to achieve some objective.  As with last year, the essay questions are open in terms of the nature of the examples an applicant can use – work, current activities and even appropriate personal stories are fair game here.  In answering the questions, applicants should touch on their thoughts, feelings, words, and actions.  It’s important to note that the philosophy behind Sloan’s approach is that past behavior is a reliable predictor of future behavior, so it will be wise to select examples that show you at your best.

One final thing to note is that MIT once again requests that applicants select experience or events from the past three years.  While it’s possible that there is some flexibility to draw essay subject matter from early experiences if the subject matter is very compelling, it would probably be prudent to showcase experiences from the past three years in as many essays as possible.

Cover Letter
Prepare a cover letter seeking a place in the MIT Sloan MBA Program. Describe your accomplishments and include an example of how you had an impact on a group or organization. Your letter should conform to standard business correspondence and be addressed to Mr. Rod Garcia, Director of MBA Admissions. (500 words or fewer)
Rod Garcia has long likened the MBA application process to the recruiting process; MBA aspirants, just like job applicants, need to demonstrate that they know how to market themselves. This is why the school requires a cover letter as part of their application.

As you approach this assignment, keep in mind that many of the standard cover letter themes need to be discussed – your attributes and skills, why you are interested in joining the ‘company’ (MIT/Sloan), and what you feel you could contribute. These certainly intersect with the ideas covered by other schools’ “career goals” essays, so much so that it may be tempting to simply tack a greeting onto the beginning of a career goals essay you’ve prepared for another program. MIT’s request for these ideas in cover letter format, however, actually makes it very easy to spot recycled material, so it’s important that you tailor your response to the school’s unique process. A potential outline for this essay might open with a ‘greeting’ to the committee followed by a statement of your interest in MIT and what you would bring to the school, then a short statement of your career goals with a summary of the ways in which your experience to date has prepared you, then a “why MIT” section explaining why it is the best place for you in terms of what you need from an MBA and your fit with the school, concluding with a thank you.

With the “impact” angle, there’s a good deal of ground to cover in this essay. The best way to satisfy this requirement might be to build a brief professional accomplishment into the overall career background narrative. It will also be important to conduct a fair amount of research on the program in order to efficiently reference the most relevant programs and offerings. Taking the time to learn about MIT’s curriculum, special programs and extracurricular activities – whether through a visit to campus, conversation with alumni or reading the Clear Admit School Guide to Sloan – will pay dividends here.

Essay 1
Please describe a time when you went beyond what was defined, expected, established, or popular. (500 words or fewer, limited to one page)
This prompt calls for an anecdote in which a candidate sets his or herself apart from the pack by demonstrating the confidence to deviate from the norm or explore new channels, or the ability to see a situation or problem in a different light.  Fitting topics might include developing an innovative solution through a nontraditional avenue or challenging the status quo with an eye for how operations could be enhanced.  Ideally, the end result would be one in which you reached new insight or perspective, created a new process, took a stand in a professional or extracurricular setting, etc.

Essay 2
Please describe a time when you convinced an individual or group to accept one of your ideas. (500 words or fewer, limited to one page)
The only new question in MIT’s application, this prompt signals the adcom’s interest in how potential students handle opposition while managing potential interpersonal fall-out in navigating the situation.  In providing a detailed description of the situation and the steps taken to garner support, applicants should highlight their ability to persuade and inspire others to accept their ideas in a positive manner.  In doing so, applicants will highlight their problem-solving and leadership skills, thus showing the adcom that they possess the abilities to succeed through challenges at MIT Sloan and in their future careers.

Essay 3
Please describe a time when you took responsibility for achieving an objective. (500 words or fewer, limited to one page)
Through this prompt, the Sloan adcom seeks evidence of a candidate’s willingness to take initiative and assume accountability.  A range of situations might apply here; one might choose an anecdote in which he or she was assigned (and readily accepted) responsibility for a project, or a story in which he or she took on an objective on his or her own accord after recognizing some need.  The common element here is that applicants will want to provide a detailed description of their thought process and actions as well as touch on the success that they achieved through pursuing the particular objective.

A few things to keep in mind while choosing an example is that it’s important to avoid vilifying or putting down others.  It’s one thing to step up and take charge in the absence of clear leadership or direction, and another to push others out of the way to take over a project.  Even if others weren’t pulling their weight, it will be best to keep the discussion positive by reflecting on how you saw some real need and acted upon it rather than, for example, getting into a discussion of how you took over because teammates or co-workers failed to do their part.

For more detailed guidance on your approach to MIT Sloan’s essay topics, feel free to contact Clear Admit directly to learn more about our admissions consulting services.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 3:00 am in Essay Topic Analysis, School: MIT / Sloan

Saturday, July 24, 2010

GMAT Tip: Perfecting Your Perfect Tenses for the GMAT

Today’s GMAT tip comes from Kaplan. In this article, Kaplan GMAT instructor Bret Ruber offers advice on the perfect tense:

When confronting a sentence correction problem, one of the first error types for which test-takers (rightfully) search is an incorrect verb tense.  In order to identify the correct verb tense to use in a specific situation, students must be aware of the appropriate context of each tense.  This is especially important when one of the “perfect” tenses is in play.

The perfect tenses are the past perfect, the present perfect and the future perfect and each is used in a specific situation.  The ability to identify which of these tenses to use can be influential in your answering sentence correction problems correctly.

First up is the past perfect tense.  The past perfect tense is used to refer to something happening in the past before (or, more rarely, after) something else that happened at a different point in the past.  The word “had” is used to indicate the past perfect tense.  For example, you would say “I had bought snacks, before I went to the movie,” as buying snacks happened before going to the movie.  Two events happening at two different points in the past require the past perfect tense.

Next is the present perfect tense.  The present perfect tense will be used in two distinct situations.  First, it is used to refer to something happening in the past continuing into the present.  For example, you could say “I have been studying for the GMAT,” because you were studying in the past and you are still studying right now.  Second, it is used to refer to events that could have occurred at any point in the past.  For example, “I have taken the GMAT.”  You could have taken the GMAT at any point in the past.  Contrast this with the sentence, “I took the GMAT.”  This is simple past tense and would indicate that you took the GMAT at a specific point in time.  For example, it would be an appropriate response to the question, “what did you do yesterday?”  Note that the present perfect uses “have” or “has” depending on the subject of the sentence.

Last is the future perfect, used to refer to something happening in the present continuing into the future.  For example, “By the end of the month, I will have finished studying for the GMAT.”  You are studying right now, and will continue in the future.  The phrase “will have” should be used to indicate the future perfect.

While you won’t have to know the phrases “past perfect” and so on for the GMAT, a clear understanding of these various verb tenses will help you quickly eliminate and identify the correct option on the common verb-related sentence correction questions.  Good luck!

For more information on Kaplan, download Clear Admit’s independent guide to the leading test preparation companies here.  This FREE guide includes coupons for discounts on test prep services at ten different firms!

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 9:00 am in GMAT - Verbal, GMAT Tips

Friday, July 23, 2010

$1 Million Alumni Gift Will Endow New Professorship at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business

A family that boasts four generations of Indiana University alumni has given the Kelley School of Business a $1 million gift to help ensure that it can continue to attract and retain world-class faculty, the school announced yesterday.

The generous gift from Alan B. Graf, Jr., executive vice president and chief financial officer of FedEx Corp., and his wife Susan will endow the Graf Family Professorship, which will help Kelley continue to attract and retain top teachers and scholars, Dean Dan Smith said in a statement.

“Competition to attract and retain faculty talent has never been greater, and their most recent gift of an endowed professorship will insure that we will always have the type of faculty who change the lives of our students and advance business practice through their research,” Smith said. The couple also donated $150,000 in 2002 for the school’s Godfrey Graduate and Executive Education Center.

The Grafs decided to follow up on mutual plans to do more for the school and create the professorship after the death of Alan B. Graf, Sr., this past spring. “I thought now’s as good a time as any to help remember him and other members of my family who were Indiana grads and have now left the Earth, as well as celebrate the fact that I have a daughter who graduated from there and I hope someday to have grandchildren that graduate from Indiana.,” he said.

Graf also noted that FedEx takes pride in the fact that it employs a significant number of Kelley graduates. “The Kelley School is turning out people who are probably 20 times more productive than I was when I graduated,” he said. “The Kelley School is contributing greatly to improve productivity in corporate America, I can tell you that.”

For more details about the new Graf Family Professorship at the Kelley School of Business, click here.

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 1:00 pm in MBA News, School: Indiana / Kelley

Fridays From the Frontline

Hi there and welcome to Fridays From The Frontline, Clear Admit’s masterfully mighty meander through the MBA blogosphere. The days of summer are in full swing for many, though the impending orientation programs that many of our bloggers see on the horizon may make summer feel like it’s going by faster than ever. MBA hopefuls find themselves asking questions and preparing for the intense emotions and schedules that the application process demands.

Ellipser conducted an interview with his Ross ’13 friend, which covered many areas of information from what it’s like to receive an acceptance call to what one does in the months before school starts. Miles to MBA found trimming and editing his essays a difficult process. KT began drafting his Kellogg essays and hoped to have final drafts by mid-August.

Darden ’12 LegalMBAyhem stumbled upon a list of MBA/JD graduates on Wikipedia, but didn’t see her school represented. Columbia‘ 12 Praz and his wife decided to take advantage of their jobless-until-Columbia-starts state and do some traveling, though still keeping in mind theirfuture career steps. ’12 Nistha also did a bit of traveling, visiting India’s Rann of Kutch. IMD ’11 Howie followed the IMD bloggers currently wrapping up their school experience and could hardly wait to begin his own journey. INSEAD ’11 The Journey also felt increased excitement for his arrival on campus in three weeks, though French visa bureaucracy and laptop choices did keep his mind occupied. Tepper ’12 Madhurya wrote her last post from India, as she was soon to be on a plane to Pittsburgh. ’12 Classy Career Girl discussed the many benefits of ‘being present.’

Kellogg ’11 Shobhit looked back on his career path and wondered if it was best to consider it a straight line or a hyperbolic paraboloid. BU ’11 Felish shared how being a non-traditional MBA student with a background in English and French initially caused her fear, but that through bonding with her b-school peers that anxiety went away. Kellogg ’12 Jeremy responded to a reader’s question about how to approach someone to ask for a reference or recommendation. Darden ’11 Julie initially had her doubts about Detroit, but she began to see some of its charms. Kellogg ’11 Orlando found that his bidding process for fall courses didn’t work out quite how he liked, but adjusted his methods for the second round of bidding.

And that wraps up this round of Fridays From the Frontline. We hope that members of the class of 2012 enjoy their last few weeks of MBA prepping and packing, and that current applicants are staying on task and getting those essays written and data forms filled out. Until next week, have a great weekend!

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 3:00 am in Fridays from the Frontline

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Twitter Thursdays: News from MBA Programs

Welcome to this week’s edition of Twitter Thursdays, in which we summarize some of the top tweets from MBA programs on Twitter!  We’ve also compiled a list of MBA programs to ease your daily access to breaking news from the top MBA programs, as reported by admissions committee members themselves.  If you want your Twitter feed filled with Clear Admit’s updates, special prizes, admissions tips and breaking news, be sure to follow us on Twitter.

The Assistant Dean of UCLA / Anderson’s MBA Admissions and Financial Aid, Mae Jennifer Shores, highlighted a few qualities she and her team look for in applicants. The Dean of the Haas School of Business, Rich Lyons, shared the autumn speaker line-up for the Open Innovation Speaker Series.  Meanwhile, the Dean of Darden School of Business, Bob Bruner, doled out advice on how to parlay a summer internship into a full-time offer.  The University of Michigan welcomed students from “far and wide” for Ross’s new Weekend MBA program, according to the Senior Associate Director of Admissions at the Ross School of Business, Jon Fuller.

Soon to be on the road, the team at MIT / Sloan announced several dates and locations for information sessions.   Cornell / Johnson commemorated the retirement of Professor John McClain, who had been a faculty member for 40 years.  From poor performance reviews to entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley, Stanford GSB plugged its professors’ latest research and insight on a range of topics.  The Wharton School also shared its professors’ opinions on financial incentives for health and interactive media.

Thanks for tuning into Twitter Thursdays this week!  If you’re on Twitter or want to suggest someone else to follow, let us know; e-mail wiki@clearadmit.com with your user name and status as an MBA applicant, student or admissions officer so we can add you to the appropriate Twitter list.  Happy tweeting and we’ll see you next week with some more updates!

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# posted by Clear Admit @ 5:44 pm in Twitter Thursdays

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